A blood cancer survivor from Latchingdon is raising awareness for World Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Day today, April 21, and is encouraging others to seek help.

Gill Winsor, who works as a delivery driver for Tesco in Maldon, is now two and a half years in remission. She wants to use her experiences to help others.

Gill told Nub News: "If you are worried about any symptoms, get a blood test done. My diagnosis was flagged with the test."

To mark five years in remission, Gill is planning to do a sky dive for charity. She says her competitive spirit is what motivated her through her illness.

She added: "I'm also thinking about going to Wales to take on the world's fastest zip wire. I need things that are a challenge.

"I'm sure my competitiveness is what helped me through my illness. I don't give in and always look on the bright side."

But all that may not have been possible, had Gill not sought help when she did.

One day during lockdown in 2020, Gill was exercising with her daughter, a personal trainer. Gill had always been exceptionally fit but found herself becoming increasingly breathless.

Gill said: "I just put it down to my fitness waning a bit."

"Then I noticed a lump in my groin. I contacted the doctor who gave me antibiotics thinking my lymph node was up due to an infection."

The antibiotics made no difference and Gill began feeling worse, with reddish-brown bruises appearing on her arms. After further tests, a CT scan and a bone marrow biopsy, Gill was given the shocking news that she had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

AML is a type of blood cancer which can affect anyone of any age. The disease may progress very quickly, and usually requires immediate treatment.

Common symptoms include:

• Fatigue
• Bruising or bleeding
• Repeated infections
• Feeling weak or breathless
• Fever or night sweats
• Bone or joint pain

Around 3,000 people are diagnosed with AML each year, eight per day. It has a five-year survival rate of just 15.3 per cent.

Gill began treatment at St Bartholomew's Hospital in September 2020. As surgery isn't an option for AML, patients undergo multiple rounds of intensive chemotherapy - with some, like Gill, then offered a stem transplant. 

To motivate herself back to full fitness, Gill ran the London Marathon last October for Leukaemia UK. She raised over £3,000 and completed the marathon in 5 hours 22 minutes, aged 63, on the anniversary of the date she was told she was in remission. (Photo: JustGiving)

An exercise fanatic, Gill lifted weights and used an exercise bike in hospital during recovery.

She said: "I met some other sufferers who I became good friends with. Unfortunately, two of these people had complications and didn't make it through.

"This made me realise how lucky I have been with my recovery."

"My outlook on life has changed now," said Gill.

"If I want to do something, I do it - you never know what is around the corner."

To learn more about AML, visit the Leukaemia UK website.

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